MikiCat Designs

"That's not my style."

How many times have you heard that from others or said it yourself? But personal "style", just like our taste buds, change constantly. There was a rule at our dinner table when I was growing up... "You don't have to eat but you must taste." It didn't matter if we'd had that particular food before and decided we didn't like it. My mom insisted that our tastes would change as we grew older. Things we liked, might not have the same appeal when we got older and things we thought absolutely disgusting at 15 would become our favorite foods at 25. She was right. I love raw clams, oysters and broccoli. Three foods that had made me gag every time.

When we're young, we're encouraged to try many different things. To stretch our imaginations, try out different philosophies, foods, and looks. We're told we can be anything we want to be if we just try. My mom also used to say "You may be the greatest piccolo player in the world, but you'll never know unless you try the piccolo." Wise woman. So, I tried. Well, I didn't try the piccolo, but I expanded my horizons by tasting foods I never tried before, trying on a piece of clothing before dismissing it as 'not me' and even revisiting old styles and things I'd never liked because she was right. My tastes changed as I grew and the years went by.

Well, I'm no young woman anymore but does that mean I have to stop trying new things, tasting new and old foods or dismissing a look because I don't think it's me? Nope. The day I stop trying new things will be the day they can plant me 6 feet under. Well, I'd rather be cremated but that's neither here nor there. What I am trying to say is that while almost everything I make is something I love to wear, they're not always "my style". Which is why a lot of my jewelry is on the eclectic side. One day I'll like chainmaille, the other wire wrapping and the next beading. So I play with them all. However, if I ever do find a set style in my art, I'll probably force myself to change it because I don't want to get in a rut.

Most of the jewelry for sale on Artfire, Etsy and my website, are pieces I loved making. But I'm expanding my horizons daily. Right now I'm getting into metalsmithing, though I've nothing finished to show or that I want to sell... yet. I'm still learning and trying new (to me) techniques and tools, having a blast and realizing that my style is every growing, evolving and changing.

There's no law out there that says everyone can have only one "style" for the rest of their lives. We can change our hair, our clothes and even our eye color and beautiful one of a kind jewelry is the greatest way to say "We are unique!" So challenge yourself and think out of the box. Try something new, different and unpredictable. Buy a new perfume, try a new food, wear a different type of shoe... and let your jewelry be as spontaneous and unique as you are!

Miki

Street fairs are fun but in the heat and humidity of South Florida's rainy season, they're brutal as well. Cat and I attended the Third Second on Second Thursdays block party, pub crawl, art fair last Thursday. This is a relatively new event that 7 restaurant/pub owners in Downtown Himmarshee (Second Street) in Ft. Lauderdale thought up to try to bring more business to the area in this time of economic recession. We were even featured on the local news and you can see my partner on TV at CBS4. What a hoot!

Besides ourselves, there were a group of marine photographers with some really neat photos, a really great Zen artist and another jeweler who does lost wax casting and a lot of lapidary work making knives out of obsidian, etc. Rolling Rock beer and New Times sponsored the event and were there also. The event benefited the Riverwalk Trust.

While a small event, I managed to make some contacts and even sold two of my pieces. Cat managed to make quite a bit doing Tarot readings and being her usual bubbly self. We definitely plan on being there next month though I will hope and pray that it's a little cooler. We managed to avoid the rain up until the last 15 minutes.

We had everything packed into the carriers and had just gotten ready to fold up the tables and get the car when the heavens opened up and we not only got rain, we got a downpour that had me soaked to the skin in less than 2 minutes. Let me tell you, it's not fun being hot to the point of being soaked in your own sweat. Add a torrential downpour and while it's cooling, it's quite, quite uncomfortable. Remind me to avoid outdoor September events next year. I'm not even sure October is going to be any better. After all, it is our rainy season but I don't ever want to do this again in this kind of weather. ACK!

I have to say I enjoy going to craft fairs and events though setting up and breaking down are hard on my back. We've also got to work more on setting up the right type of display. we're still working on that. As you can see, we bought a couple of folding, adjustable tables from Sam's Club. (Thanks Yahoo Groups!) Cat found some inexpensive black tablecloths and the pretty gold scarf cloths for the tables online. I've been collecting display pieces and think a lot about how to show everything. But it's not easy. We'll be getting a banner made and perhaps next time I'll remember the bracelet display. [sigh]

But hey, I sold some jewelry, made some contacts and had a fun time. Isn't that what it's all about?

This article is coming out of a wonderful discussion I had with a very talented goldsmith who is trying to educate people on exactly what custom work is. He writes this whole article on his site where he talks about fabricating a ring for you, or making a wax carving and then manufacturing it for you, or say you want stones on it, you may have your own or you may want to buy from him. Stones come in all qualities so you can spend most of your money on the highest quality stone or go for the glam and save. There are so many individual pieces that go into making a custom piece that people tend to shy away from it. All of the above mentioned type work is what most people think of as 'custom', but actually, anything can be custom. A simple droplet earring in the colors of your, a wire wrapped ring, with the birthstones of your children, a funky necklace made to complement your grandmother's old brooch, they're all custom pieces. The most important thing he taught me was... "If you can't walk into a store, point at something in a case and buy it, it's 'custom'. So when you think of custom work, don't think 'expensive', think 'exact'. You get exactly what you want, rather than simply choosing from what's available!

That can be a great boon to someone who absolutely LOVES this earring, but would much rather have it in silver and red, or copper and peach or any other metal, crystal combination. It's very easy to do and in some cases, such as doing this gold earring in silver, will actually cost you less. But you'll still get the bragging rights of "It was custom made for me."

The person I'm talking about I just met on the Orchid forum part of the Ganoskin Project. Pete Schlosser has 7 years experience as a gold smith in the trade, currently lives in Minnesota with his wife and is seriously thinking of moving down here to Florida. In true southern tradition, We all would be so plea-ased to hay-uve y'all come and live dowen here with us. LOL Of course I think the move is a while away. Considering between Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Beach is not an easy choice. I'm all the way down in the depths of South Florida so anything north of Boynton seems foreign to me. I just gotta get me out more. LOL You can find Pete's site at The Goldsmithy. In his own words, "How fast things change. Here's my website, now ancient in design (2003?). Every piece shown is that old, I never update the site even though I probably should."

Anyway, I'm hoping that you will learn a bit more about what custom work is and why you should always ask if someone will customize a piece for you. It's the best way to get exactly what you want, at a price you want to pay.


Miki

They've just given us a way to have our Artfire Studios on our Facebook Fan pages and you don't have to leave Facebook to find everything we make and sell. I think it's awesome and hope you'll check out Mikicat Designs Facebook Fan page and our new Artfire Kiosk. It is so cool.

In the meantime, I've been working on some new pieces. A 4-in-1 European chainmaille Ring in Sterling Silver, and a really small micro Byzantine weave in 14k gold and Blue Titanium. I haven't priced them or even gotten decent photos yet. But that will happen. Here's a picture of the 4-in-1 Ring. It's so pretty.

I also made a pendant to match the Snow & Ice Earrings I sold. I was so inspired and it came out so nice, I almost don't want to give it up. But when you get a custom order, you can't keep them for yourself. (grin) But it did come out nice and sparkley and pretty and matches perfectly with the earrings of which there are one more pair left!

The end of the month is almost here and our Grand Opening hullabaloo is winding down. I've also put some great things up for sale and reduced prices on the Website, our Etsy shop and our ArtFire Studio. Now is the time for some great savings on beautiful handcrafted items for yourself or to give as gifts.